A family which became closely associated with the Zimmermans was the Zieglers, who often became Ziglars in some of the later generations. It is believed that the Germanna family entered the colonies at Philadelphia in 1732, in the person of Johann Leonhart Ziegler. He moved to Virginia and became the husband of Barbara Zimmerman, the daughter of the immigrant Christopher Zimmerman. He lived in the Mt. Pony area, where he had land on Stoney Run, adjacent to Frederick Zimmerman, son of Christopher Zimmerman.
Johann Leonhart Ziegler died as a younger man, age 46, in Culpeper Co., VA, where his will is recorded in Will Book A for 1757 . Children who are mentioned are Christopher, Leonard (Jr.), Elizabeth, Ann, and Susanna. One of the appraisers of his estate was Nicholas Kabbler, another Mt. Pony neighbor.
Leonard, Jr., also died as a young man, in 1772, and his will, not mentioning children, leaves all of his estate to his wife Ann. A Revolutionary War application ( W 4107 ) exists on behalf of Leonard Ziglar (or his widow), who was born 2 Jul 1762. Presumably this was Leonard III. Leonard III married, 1783/4, Nancy Zimmerman, born 3 Jan 1766, the daughter of John. This John was the son of John who was the son of the immigrant Christopher.
John Zimmerman, the father of Nancy, lived in the Robinson River area, whereas the Ziglars lived in the Mt. Pony area. I had suggested that the physical separation between the branches of the Zimmermans might have been due to son-step mother dissension; however, the marriage of Nancy, from the Robinson River community, with Leonard Ziglar, in the Mt. Pony, area suggests that the Zimmermans did maintain contact.
In 1787, Leonard (III) and Nancy moved to Surry Co., NC. The area later became Stokes Co., in 1789, and Forsyth Co., in 1849. Leonard and Nancy had fourteen children:
This is only thirteen children and my notes say that the fourteenth child was named Zimmerman, an unusual first name.
A Johann Leonhardt Ziegler, of Sinsheim in Germany, was denied permission to emigrate in 1750. The relationship of these two individuals of the same name is not clear, but it would appear that the origins of the family have been found. It was from the same area that the Pinnegar (Benninger) family originated. They were associated with the Zieglers in Virginia. Thus, research on the Ziglar and Pinnegar families should be directed to the records in the Sinsheim area, which is a good day's walk from Sulzfeld, the home of the Zimmermans.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.